Zack’s Perspective

My eye slowly creaked open as I felt something cool caressing my cheek. I lay chest down, my face gradually bobbing up and down.

Although it was somewhat refreshing, pain numbed my senses. However, compared to when I first woke up, the pain was negligible.

I used my hand to push down on the thing I lay on and get up, only to have it pass through. My momentum caused my body to twist forward as my head went through the substance and a moment later, I lay head up, my back facing where ground should’ve been.

Using my fingers to touch the ground, I discovered the thing I lay on was not a solid but a large body of water — a lake, to be specific.

A… Lake? And why did I slow down?

Slowly opening my eye, I saw various colours dancing through the sky, mixing into another with no order whatsoever, all except for one spot — a spot showing the scenery of the night sky. From the spot which looked normal, spider-web-like cracks spread out towards the rest of the colourful sky.

The spot where the sky looked normal was a little towards the right. Although there were cracks littering the area around the hole, they were filling up at a visible speed, and the hole was shrinking at a visible pace.

On trying to move around, my body felt heavy. So I lay there on the water while looking up at the sky flashing with colours.

Even trying to breathe was slowly becoming a challenge. Stabs of pain emanated from my left eye as the bandage wrapping around barely held on. Time passed slowly as I floated there aimlessly, my body lacking any energy to move.

Hahaha… I am not even deserving of a death, let alone being forgiven. Not even the other side wanted to welcome me. What was I thinking, hoping for everything to go as I thought?

Bleak thoughts flooded my mind as time seemed to flow by. I wanted to cry, yet no tears came out. I wanted to shout, yet my throat hurt.

After a while, I clenched my fists before flailing my arms about, hoping to drift over to the shore. However, my body twisted through the water as my hand hit against a solid surface, giving an acute pain. At the same time, my back started hurting, making me feel frail and helpless.

My weak body… Wait, a solid surface!

Using my legs to reach out to the surface, my hand bumped against, I tried to stand. Upon managing to stand on my two feet, I found out that I was drifting around the lake’s perimeter. The water here was comparatively shallow, barely reaching my waist.

Walking over to the land, I looked back at the lake.

Although parts of it were now dyed scarlet, the water was exceptionally clear. I could see each and every pebble at the lakeside with no issues. Even so, I could not see the bottom of the lake. Behind the lake was a straight stone wall reaching straight up. I was sure of it being the bottom of the cliff I fell down from.

So this lake stopped me from dying…

Unsure of what to feel, I turned my back to the lake. In front of me now, a shabby wooden cabin stood, its exterior bathed in a layer of dust. Quite a few of the logs at its front were decaying, and there was a gaping hole in its front, going all the way to its roof. Behind it was the similar expanse of colours mixing about, reaching up and mixing into the sky.

A cabin? Does someone live here? No, it doesn't look like someone does. But maybe they did in the past… But then, who? And why here? This doesn’t seem like a good place to live. Maybe a hunter’s camp? But that makes no sense. And the sky here… it doesn’t feel normal.

While thoughts flashed through my head, the curiosity had gotten the better of me as I was already walking towards the cabin.

However, before I could get close, faint sounds of footsteps drifted into my ears. On looking around, I figured that the source of this sound was none other than that punctured hole in still distorting sky. Although the hole was repairing itself, it still hadn’t patched itself up.

My eyes widened as I was about to shout ‘Is someon—’

However, a chill ran down my spine as tearing sounds came from where the small hole was. A moment later, my eye widened as I saw something glittering slamming down from what could now be described as a tear in the sky, causing the ground to tremble. Under the faint moonlight seeping through, I could make out a silhouette of a hammer.

Just by looking, I could tell the shaft alone was longer than myself and the hammer-head was at least twice as wide as my head, the back of which formed a long spike.

An exclamation of surprise came through the same hole as the hammer, “Whoa! It-it’s broken from here. My hammer fell down.”

Another voice came through, “What? You sure?”

“Yeah.” The first one gave a solemn reply. With a voice louder than before, he shouted, “Commander Burt, we found a crack in the barrier over here! Please come and have a look.”

Sounds of hurried footsteps filled the air.

“This is a barrier, a barrier of at least a tier 8, maybe even a tier 9,” a cold and emotionless voice sounded out, causing all the hair on my body to stand on end. “And by the looks of it, it is atleast a few aevis old. Hmm…. You two, back off.”

The sounds from the tear in the sky disappeared. But a moment later, the same voice shouted, “Men! Rip it to shreds. We found what we were looking for. Focus fire on this area. We’re in for a big treat after this!”

Before that voice died out, the ground shook while the sky trembled. The distorting sky soon had several cracks within it, slowly growing numerous. Before long, the distortions in the sky disappeared away, leaving behind a curtain of black filled with stars. The moon hung high, illuminating the area, occasionally hiding behind the clouds overhead.

In an instant, a heavy pressure pressed onto me, making it hard to move or breathe.

“There’s a kid here,” the voice of one of the men from before sounded out.

The creepy voice from earlier replied, “I know, I can sense it.”

Sounds of footsteps landed on my ears, making me feel uneasy. I tried to rush towards the wooden cabin to hide, but I was a tad too late.

Unbeknownst to me when, a man stood before me, his hand grabbing the crown of my head. He brought his head closer to my face to get a better look before a contagious laugh filled with delight and ridicule echoed through my surroundings.

In his delight, he exclaimed, “We meet again, little one!”